Costa Rica Tarrazu Anaerobic Process

TIP: You can save products to your favorites list if you log in In a word: CROMG! Tiny Costa Rica is full of heady surprises which make it the envy of the coffee-producing world, with some of the most agronomically and technologically advanced thinking around. Every harvest season sees more smallholder farms offering “added-value” production, offering honey and natural processing, new varietals, etc. What caught my eye recently was the catchphrase “anaerobically-processed”, experimentation which I had heard about from a couple farms in Brazil. At his Tarrazu region Finca Cordillera del Fuego, producer Luis Eduardo Campos picks his high-grown (1600-1750 meters), hand-picked Caturra varietal cherries when they have reached a Brix (sugar content measurement) of 26. They are then depulped and immediately put, along with their separated mucilage, into a stainless steel tank. In the atmosphere deprived of CO2, an anaerobic fermentation process occurs naturally and the “mash” develops a unique profile of acids (malic and lactic among others) which ultimately translate to very complex fruity flavor and heavy body after the beans have dried in full sun.
I adore this coffee! Despite the heavy body and medium acidity it resounds with the fruity spectrum of a natural process…green apple, berry, compote and orange…as well as more traditional flavors like chocolate and caramel. Like a fine Ethiopia natural combined with a pulped natural Brazil in one cup! Most unlike anything we're cupped out of Central America, and hats off to Sr. Campos. The roast profile is light but doesn't present that way in surface color, and the richness is undeniable. Best in drip and pourover.